Nick Timiraos is the chief economics correspondent for The Wall Street Journal, where he covers the Federal Reserve and U.S. economic policy. He joined the Journal in 2006 and previously wrote about the U.S. housing bust and the 2008 election. He is a graduate of Georgetown University and lives with his family in Washington, D.C.
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Episode 271
Nick Timiraos
Secular Inflation & the End of the Great Moderation | Nick Timiraos
Nick Timiraos is the chief economics correspondent for The Wall Street Journal, where he covers the Federal Reserve and U.S. economic policy. He joined the Journal in 2006 and previously wrote about the U.S. housing bust and the 2008 election. He is a graduate of Georgetown University and lives with his family in Washington, D.C.
In Episode 271 of Hidden Forces, Demetri Kofinas speaks with Nick Timiraos, the chief economics correspondent for The Wall Street Journal, where he covers the Federal Reserve and U.S. economic policy. Timiraos is also the author of Trillion Dollar Triage, a detailed account of the day-by-day and sometimes hour-by-hour policymaking by Federal Reserve officials during the heights of the Covid-19 pandemic and subsequently between 2020-2021.
The first part of this conversation focuses on the immediate concerns that investors have about Fed policy and the path of interest rates. This includes a discussion about inflation targeting and inflation expectations, personnel and the centralization of policymaking at the Fed, and tradeoffs between economic growth, financial stability, and inflation.
In the second hour, Demetri and Nick discuss quantitative tightening, balance sheet capacity, and how this Fed would react to inadvertently “breaking something” in the plumbing of the financial system. They also discuss fiscal and monetary collaboration, the ability or inability to get inflation under control long-term without stabilizing government debt, the Fed put, the stock market, and much, much more.
Demetri’s goal in this conversation was to ask as many questions and learn as much as possible about how this Fed sees the challenges that lie before it, what data and information are most relevant to Fed officials when deciding how to set policy, how they think about tradeoffs, and how Jay Powell specifically, understands or thinks he understands the financial system and his role as Chairman of the most powerful central bank in the world. There are few people as qualified to answer these questions as Nick Timiraos and this conversation does not disappoint.
You can access the full episode, transcript, and intelligence report to this week’s conversation through this episode page by clicking on “premium extras.” All subscribers gain access to our premium feed, which can be easily added to your favorite podcast application.
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Nick Timiraos is the chief economics correspondent for The Wall Street Journal, where he covers the Federal Reserve and U.S. economic policy. He joined the Journal in 2006 and previously wrote about the U.S. housing bust and the 2008 election. He is a graduate of Georgetown University and lives with his family in Washington, D.C.
Demetri Kofinas is a media entrepreneur and financial analyst whose mission is to help uncover the hidden forces and pivotal patterns shaping our lives. His contrarian perspective and critical-thinking approach has helped hundreds of thousands of people make smarter, informed decisions. This same methodology has helped guide Demetri’s decision-making as an early-stage investor and as a creator of several innovative media properties and live events.
Demetri Kofinas is a media entrepreneur and financial analyst whose mission is to help uncover the hidden forces and pivotal patterns shaping our lives. His contrarian perspective and critical-thinking approach has helped hundreds of thousands of people make smarter, informed decisions. This same methodology has helped guide Demetri’s decision-making as an early-stage investor and as a creator of several innovative media properties and live events.
Demetri Kofinas is a media entrepreneur and financial analyst whose mission is to help uncover the hidden forces and pivotal patterns shaping our lives. His contrarian perspective and critical-thinking approach has helped hundreds of thousands of people make smarter, informed decisions. This same methodology has helped guide Demetri’s decision-making as an early-stage investor and as a creator of several innovative media properties and live events.
Demetri Kofinas is a media entrepreneur and financial analyst whose mission is to help uncover the hidden forces and pivotal patterns shaping our lives. His contrarian perspective and critical-thinking approach has helped hundreds of thousands of people make smarter, informed decisions. This same methodology has helped guide Demetri’s decision-making as an early-stage investor and as a creator of several innovative media properties and live events.
Demetri Kofinas is a media entrepreneur and financial analyst whose mission is to help uncover the hidden forces and pivotal patterns shaping our lives. His contrarian perspective and critical-thinking approach has helped hundreds of thousands of people make smarter, informed decisions. This same methodology has helped guide Demetri’s decision-making as an early-stage investor and as a creator of several innovative media properties and live events.